With the theatre scene already on an upswing in
Pakistan, it is always good to see the industry find more benefactors in
younger people. The Cultural Dramatics & Entertainment Society (CDES)
is a dedicated group of youngsters, with a unanimous mission to revive
performing arts in all its manifestation in Pakistan.
CDES is fully geared up for its 14th All Pakistan Performing Arts
Competition 2012, with which they hope to offer even more fun, glamour
and entertainment this year.

“Performing Arts have never been given the kind of
attention they deserve,” explains Jahanzeb Pirzada, President CDES,
and continues, “A catalyst for the development of society, performing
arts play a significant role. But unfortunately this is a field that
seems to have been nurtured without any charter.CDES’ mandate, therefore, is to generate opportunities for the
unearthing and growth of discovered talent to set the wheels in
motion.”

The meteoric rise of CDES is due to the fact that it
offers stalwarts of media as well as young artistes from all over
Pakistan a chance to assemble and perform together on a single platform.
The young get a chance to gel with the seasoned artistes and learn how
to excel whereas the audience, besides having entertainment can also
evaluate how capable the new generation is to take this legacy ahead.

Excited about their upcoming event, Jehanzeb Pirzada
is very sure of the fact that forming CDES was a
necessity of the times despite present performing arts establishments.

“Unfortunately the Arts Councils could not
contribute anything significant due to their internal politics leading
to the present gloomy situation. Promoting culture, bridging gap between
various social and ethnic groups, creating awareness about intricate and
sensitive issues, and providing quality entertainment to the audience is
what each member CDES fraternity is groomed to strive for and thrive
on,” he says.

While many may not agree with Pirzada’s statement,
he counts off the CDES’ achievements, which are a source of pride for
these young artistes.

“CDES follows the philosophy of propagating
knowledge in the form of art. For that very reason, CDES staged
Writer’s Block in LUMS Dramaline Drama Fest ‘10,” says Pirzada.
“Our crew went on to achieve the Best Technical Award and nominations
in the categories of Best Actor and Best Serious Play among 26
top performances from all over Pakistan.”

The CDES events luckily are able to find funding in
the corporate sector, and this helps them focus more on the quality of
the event itself, which is an eagerly awaited one by aspiring actors and
musicians who are still in the academic process.

The14th
CDES All Pakistan Performing Arts Competition 2012 Let There be Drama is
scheduled for May 4-6 2012, andthe
CDES is waiting to receive all its supporters and appreciators of new
music and drama with open arms.

Foreign Editorial

James Cameron
denies Titanic 3D release

is cashing-in on
tragedy

The director dismissed accusations
that he was trying capitalise on the Titanic anniversary as he was
joined with some of the stars of the original Oscar-winning film at the
Royal Albert Hall for the premiere of the 3D version of Titanic.

Telegraph.co.uk

The film is being re-released almost exactly 100
years after the real Titanic set sail.

Shortly before midnight on 14 April 1912, the
passenger liner struck an iceberg on its way from Southampton to New
York. It sank less than three hours later, killing 1,517 people.

Director James Cameron rejected suggestions that the
re-release was simply an attempt to make money on
the 100th anniversary of the tragedy.

“Yeah, you know look - there’s always going to
be people that can —— in the soup of anything good. But frankly I
think that remembering Titanic, remembering the history - that’s what
the film was there for.

That’s why I made it, you know. I was fascinated
by the story, I was fascinated by the history, the people that were
heroic, the people that lost their lives.

I was genuinely touched by the tragedy when I was
there at the wreck. I think the film is a good focusing agent for that
at this time when we should be remembering the wreck and its message,
the disaster and its message for all of us.”

Cameron came to London fresh from the success of his
latest venture. Using a specially designed submarine, called Deepsea
Challenger, he successfully dived nearly seven miles below the surface
of the Pacific to the Earth’s deepest point - a feat only carried out
once before.

The descent took place at the Mariana Trench, about
200 miles south west of the Pacific island of Guam.

Kate Winslet, who also attended the premiere,
admitted the re-release fifteen years on was a bizarre experience for
her.

Back in 1997, when the film was originally released,
Winslet was a relatively unknown actress - but the movie,
in which she played Rose alongside Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jack -
propelled her to worldwide fame.

“It’s weird. I mean it is like being forced to
go through a photo album of your former self for three and a half hours
solidly,” she said.

“It’s quite strange you know. But the film is
still wonderful and it looks incredible. It’s just one of those kind
of surreal moments to kind of go with it.”

Titanic 3D will be released worldwide on April 6.

StarBytes

Chloe Moretz set to
play Carrie as other King novels

make their way to
the big screen

Stephen King classic Carrie is set to see its second
big-screen adaptation with Kimberly Pierce (Boys Don’t Cry) as
director. Now we also know we’ll probably be seeing Chloe Moretz as
Carrie too, who won the role from competition such as Selena Gomez and
Dakota Fanning. A thrilled Moretz, who starred as Abby in Let Me In and
more recently in Hugo tweeted: “Thank you Kim Pierce and thank u MGM
for the chance of a lifetime!”

Chloe Moretz wouldn’t have been Stephen King’s
first choice for Carrie though as the writer had himself proposed a name
last year for the title character when rumours of a new adaptation had
started up. “I’ve heard
rumblings about a Carrie remake, as I have about The Stand and It. Who
knows if it will happen? The real question is why, when the original was
so good? I mean, not Casablanca, or anything, but a really good
horror-suspense film, much better than the book,” King had said last
summer.

“Piper Laurie really got her teeth into the
bad-mom thing. Although Lindsay Lohan as Carrie White… hmmm. It would
certainly be fun to cast. I guess I could get behind it if they turned
the project over to one of the Davids: Lynch or Cronenberg.”

Lindsay Lohan had been reportedly ‘stoked’ at
the thought of playing the troubled telekinetic teen.

Meanwhile, other King books have turned into
projects for several directors, including Ron Howard who is in talks
with Warner Bros to adapt the Dark Tower series with Javier Bardem as
gunslinger Roland Deschain, Ben Affleck, who hopes to remake The Stand
as a feature film, and Jonathan Demme, who had bought rights to 11/22/63
even before the book was published in November. Demme plans to produce,
write and direct the screen adaptation, about a small-town teacher who
travels back in time and tries to prevent the Kennedy assassination.

Ranbir Kapoor’s
hands full with Deepika and Shahid

Ranbir Kapoor is rockstarring back into our lives
and he comes bearing gifts, namely a proposal
to erstwhile flame Deepika and a future film with potential flame Shahid
Kapoor. Not only is Ranbir doing everything on his terms, he is going to
pick up great bronzer tips from Shahid, whom as we all know, is a master
craftsman when it comes to anything that can be sponged, sprayed, grown,
brushed and touched up on the face (and sometimes the torso).

Ranbir is said to have signed on a film with Abhinav
Kashyap, the man behind the cinematic masterpiece of our times, Dabangg.
The film will be co-produced by Viacom 18. The film was at first going
to be one called Karnaama, a caper starring Ranbir as the caperer. But
somehow Kashyap and Viacom 18 have decided that they should make the
film with Ranbir as a ‘tapori’ who is a “bold, upfront, street
smart guy. His body language and talking style will be very Mumbaiyya.”
Ranbir is the best choice for this role as he is so street.

On the other hand, Ranbir is wrapping up Yeh Jawani
Hai Deewani with Deepika, which is thrilling for fans of the actors as a
couple, as Ranbir finally proposes to her. In the film.The scene is described thusly: “Ranbir proposes to Deepika in
one of the scenes and she accepts his proposal, following which Ranbir
expresses his happiness by throwing a stone into the river.”

In Ranbir’s future is a remake of Pahlaj
Nahalani’s 1993 film Aankhen, which correct us if we are wrong, was
home to the popular ‘90s tune ‘O Laal Dupattay Waali’. The
original starred Govinda and master comedian Chunky Pandey, and the plot
revolves around, ‘Two wealthy buffoons, Munnu and Bunnu, get involved
in a conspiracy to replace a Chief Minister with a look-alike by some
corrupt government officials. Meanwhile, Munnu’s identical cousin
arrives for a visit from the rural parts, and is mistaken for the real
Munnu. The city-wise Munnu visits his cousin to find a safe place to
hide out, and is mistaken by the local townspeople for his cousin.’

This version of the film will not only star Ranbir
(in a double role), but also Shahid (in a double role), which means four
times the fun than we are used to. Perhaps Shahid will teach Ranbir how
to encourage facial hair growth and Ranbir will teach Shahid how to
bedazzle? We can dream.

This Just in

The Maroon 5 front man and co-host of America’s
The Voice, Adam Levine will be making
his television acting debut. The singer will be on the second season of
American Horror Story as part of a couple called The Lovers. The scary
TV show found unexpected success and has a highly anticipated second
season. The first season followed a family trying to start fresh when
they move into a haunted house in Los Angeles with a history of murders
and suicides. Levine may play a ghost according to the title of The
Lovers given to him who have undoubtedly have met a nasty end. Along
with Adam Levine, the show will bring back Jessica Lange and Zachary
Quinto from the first season. According to the show’s creator and Glee
producer Ryan Murphy, the show will move to a new location and have a
new plot. Levine is still in talks with the show’s producers about
taking on the role. We’d love to see a darker side of the sweet
singer.

Total Recall is getting a remake! Let that just sink
in for a second. The sci-fi thriller is set to come to theatres by
August. In the time of incessant remakes and sequels and prequels, we
are looking forward to this one. The original Total Recall came out in
1990 starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in the most technically advanced
movie of its time. The film’s cast includes Collin Farrel, Jessica
Biel and Kate Beckinsale with Breaking Bad’s Bryan
Cranston. Ethan Hawke will have a cameo in the film while we are hoping
they just might sneak the Governator for our viewing pleasure. The film
will be set on Earth instead of Mars unlike the original and will add
more political influences than the original story which was based on the
novella We Can Remember It for You Wholesale by Philip K. Dick. From the
trailer Huffington Post reports: “the new Total Recall world looks
like a mashup of Bladerunner, Mass Effect and The Fifth Element.” Wait
and see, kids.